Debating & Public Speaking ACC DEBATING & PUBLIC SPEAKING TEAM On 23 August, four keen Joey’s students – and myself, travelled to Mazenod College in Melbourne to represent at the ACC Public Speaking Competition. During the day, each student presented two speeches in front of other competing Catholic schools and an adjudicator. There were many exciting, informative, educational and persuasive speeches by all of the Associated Catholic College representatives. Some topics from our boys included: discrimination, populism, China’s political landscape, and the Kokoda experience. As part of the competition the boys also had to do an improvisation speech with only five minutes to rehearse.The boys gave it their best and overall our public speaking team finished fourth out of the nine schools. – Will Magher DAV DEBATING TEAMS What an exciting season in the Debaters Association of Victoria (DAV) Debating Competition, we saw great success for our A, B and D grade teams.With confidence, collaboration and persuasiveness all of the teams experienced wins against tough competitors such as Geelong Grammar, Kardinia International College and Geelong College. At the end of the regional season, the A Graders finished in first place, the B Graders in second place and the D Graders in fifth place. The A Grade team progressed to the playoffs in Melbourne where they competed against Parade College, unfortunately losing by a 3 point margin. Throughout the season, best speaker awards were given to Thomas Newnham, Benjamin Camilleri, Samuel Arnold, Liam Jelley and Kobi Pelletier.
DAV JUNIOR PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION On 25 May, St Joseph’s College hosted the DAV Junior Public Speaking Competition in the Performing Arts Centre. Students from Geelong Lutheran College, Western Heights College and Sacred Heart College joined us for a great day of training, speeches and activities. Year 7 and 8 students Lachlan Dowling, Samuel Nicopoulos, Jett Sansom, William Baum, Lachlan Demasi and Finnegan Murray created insightful and mature speeches that explored heroism, humanity or history. Congratulations to all of the boys who competed. VCAA PLAIN ENGLISH SPEAKING COMPETITION The nation’s most prestigious public speaking competition occurred in Term 2 and Year 12 student Kobi Pelletier and Year 10 student Riley Eggleton were selected to compete from St Joseph’s College. Kobi spoke about the war on drugs, and Riley spoke about the dangers of right-wing populism. Riley won first place in the regional round and progressed to the semi-final where he competed against the top speakers from other Victorian regions. Kobi was awarded with the Victorian Regional Encouragement award; this award recognises one outstanding speaker from regional Victoria. This was the first time both of these students have competed in a public speaking competition, so their results are an impressive achievement. These young men worked diligently to produce memorable speeches, and they are commended for their engaging manner and passion about their topics. - Christine Rowland, Debating and Public Speaking Coordinator
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